Outremer I

by D. N. Carter

  “And you,” Paul heard himself say as Balian left, his mind already trying to work out how best he could remain anonymous. The very last thing he wanted was to attract any attention. He rubbed his head, confused and still feeling weak.

  Paul pulled on a long sleeved white cotton chamber robe. He felt uneasy on his feet as he stepped down from the caravan’s steps and he had to shield his eyes from the brilliant glare of the sun. He was inside the main courtyard of a castle. The sky was a bright blue without a cloud in sight. The ground was almost white and dusty. The castle walls were set out in an odd shape. West of him, to his left, he could see the large fortified entrance manned by several guards. He saw Tenno standing with Taqi next to Adrastos, who was tied up alongside several other horses belonging to the blacksmith. At opposite ends of the castle, Templars had set up just two large white tents with their Beausant flag flying above one, whilst the Hospitallers had done likewise at the other end. Several other knights and some from Balian’s entourage were cleaning their equipment shaded beneath large tarpaulin covers stretched between the main Byzantine keep in the middle and the main curtain walls of the castle. Several pilgrims replete with their tell-tale large broad brimmed hats and mantlets covered in scallop shells were stood near the main entrance, talking.

  “’Tis good to see you up after so many days,” a voice behind startled him. “’Tis I…Percival. Do you remember me?” the dark haired man said politely and stood into view. He had been standing beside the caravan’s door. “I was asked to keep watch upon you,” he explained and bowed his head briefly.

  “Erm…sorry. Yes. Yes I remember you. Percy!” Paul replied, his throat still dry.

  Two of Guy de Lusignan’s men approached wearing just their light cotton mantles and swords but no armour or chain mail.

  “Master Paul. We have been asked to fetch you as soon as you arose. Guy wishes to meet and speak with you…if you are agreeable of course?” the shorter of the two knights asked, smiling too broadly for Paul’s liking.

  Percy looked at them both suspiciously. Paul noticed this.

  “I…I need to see my wife first,” Paul answered, tying to see where his own caravan was situated. The castle grounds were not that big he thought as he looked around.

  “Okay. I shall inform Guy you shall meet him soon,” the knight remarked, his tone clipped. He bowed his head and turned away followed by his colleague.

  “Paul…they are strange men…that whole group. Please be cautious with them,” Percy said as he watched them walk away.

  Paul turned to face Percival, surprised.

  “But I thought you were with them. You came with them did you not?” Paul asked.

  “I came with them for I joined their convoy as I was travelling alone. But I am not one of them and I do not like what they say and how they say it,” Percival replied, still watching the two men.

  “Really. Such as?”

  “Nothing big I suppose. But they already speak of you as if you are to join their troop and they pass remarks about your wife.”

  “What kind of remarks?” Paul asked, concerned.

  “The fact that she is a Muslim. That you travel with a former ex-communicated

  Templar and a nun who does not exactly live up to her vows… but…,” he hesitated.

  “But?” Paul asked immediately.

  “But they make comment about your wife’s beauty…Sorry…it is remiss of me to tell tales. It makes me no better than they and their behaviour. I apologise.”

  “No…I thank you for informing me. It shows they have little respect for me or Alisha,” Paul remarked as he still looked around for his caravan.

  He realised he did not have his sword with him. Quickly he returned inside the caravan and tied it around his waist with the temporary sheath and belt. He had to wait a few moments as his ears began to ring and he felt dizzy again. “Ex-communicated Templar?” Paul said quietly to himself, thinking about Theodoric. So was he indeed a former Templar and why would he hide that fact from him? he wondered as he made his way out. The empty patch upon his old white mantle had been one of the first things Paul had ever noticed on Theodoric the very first night they had met. Paul looked down the line of horses tied up in the centre of the court. It was then that he saw Adrastos and on the other side stood Tenno, Taqi and Theodoric.

  As Paul made his way towards them across the dusty courtyard, he heard two horses galloping in through the main entrance. Two Templar couriers rushed through the entrance, passed Paul and dismounted in a hurry, dusted themselves off, handed the reins of their horses to two sergeants who greeted them, and just as quickly then ran into the main keep and out of sight.

  “Ah…the o great weak one arises!” Taqi joked loudly as he saw Paul approach them. “And in night clothes no less!”

  “Hey…I do not even know where my clothes are…or Alisha and Arri. Where are they?” Paul asked as he stopped next to Adrastos and patted him.

  Theodoric waved from the opposite side as he groomed Adrastos.

  “’Tis good to see you standing. You had us worried there for a while,” Tenno said politely.

  “I wasn’t worried. I knew you would be fine,” Theodoric smiled as Tenno then shook his head disapprovingly.

  “What have I missed?” Paul asked, still looking around for his caravan.

  “Oh you missed a competition between these two, who could shoot the crossbow the best,” Taqi replied. “And Tenno won. He split Theo’s bolts in two. You should have seen it. Amazing,” Taqi explained enthusiastically. Tenno just bowed his head slightly in recognition.

  “Only means we are equal when aiming at the same spot…that is all,” Theodoric remarked and pretended to act indignant.

  Paul caught a glimpse of the blacksmith as he walked around the back of the horses. He was hunched and clearly very sad still.

  “I have shown him how to make swords stronger yet more flexible,” Tenno commented, seeing Paul watch him walk past.

  “Is that wise?” Paul asked as he stretched his arms slowly, still feeling very tired.

  “He is a good man. He will be sought after as a sword smith. ’Tis the least we could offer him for the sacrifice he has already made,” Tenno stated bluntly.

  Paul thought for a few moments. He pulled up his sword to look at the main roundel at the top of the pommel. It was blank. His father had had the sword repaired in London, not that Paul was even aware it had been damaged or what it had looked like previously. Paul had seen many times the symbol of three Ts linked together and both his father and Theodoric had explained briefly about the triple Tau symbolism with fleeting mention of it whispered in reference to the ‘Order of the Sword’ and ‘Order of the Tau’ but he never heard all of the conversations. As he stood looking at Tenno, Taqi and Theodoric, he laughed to himself that stood before him were his very own three Ts. As he looked down at the pommel again he wondered!

  “Tenno…do you think he would do some work for me…if I paid him?” Paul asked.

  “How would I know?” he replied, perplexed, and pulled one of his now almost famous scowls.

  “Then I shall ask him myself. I shall be right back,” Paul said as he hurried off after the blacksmith. Paul kept seeing Tara’s face in his dreams but also the symbol of the triple Tau constantly. He now wondered if after all that had happened the blacksmith would be willing to engrave the symbol upon the pommel, so that he would never forget Tara, who had ultimately saved his life, Alisha’s and that of Arri. Plus he would also forever be reminded of his own three most trusted friends he had in the world, Tenno, Taqi and Theodoric. Though he would quiz Theodoric later he reminded himself. With the reality of the life and world he was rapidly entering into beginning to sink in, he also wanted something that could always remind him of what is important. Though he did not fully understand the triple Tau symbol, he trusted his instincts that it was good and important.

  Fig 27:

  Chapter 23

  New Lessons

  Port of La
Rochelle, France, Melissae Inn, spring 1191

  “Can I see closer please,” the Templar asked and reached out for the sword and quickly pulled it nearer. Hesitantly he studied the pommel cautiously handling the sword in case it reacted to him. “I do not see any symbol. Did the blacksmith not oblige Paul’s request?”

  “Look closer at the roundel…and then unsheath the sword fully,” the old man replied and gestured toward the sword as the Templar looked closer. “You will see perhaps the oldest symbol known to man.”

  “Is it perchance the one Niccolas revealed to Paul…the circle with the dot in the middle?” Gabirol remarked as he strained to see the roundel from his position.

  The Templar looked up towards him and nodded yes it was.

  “Then what of the Tau symbol Paul wanted?” Simon asked, a little confused.

  “I can tell you Paul found the blacksmith standing alone behind one of his three carts. He was still very much inconsolable. At first he dismissed Paul saying he was not undertaking any work, but then when he realised it was Paul behind, he beckoned him back. Paul was the last person to ever speak to his daughter, and in some strange way the blacksmith felt connected somehow. Tara had made no secret of her liking him. He did not blame Paul at all. When Paul had explained that it was his daughter who undoubtedly saved them all, it had touched the blacksmith very deeply. It had given him some small measure of comfort. When Paul explained what he wished him to do upon the sword, he stood in silence for many minutes. Eventually, with tears in his eyes, he told Paul he would do much more than that,” the old man explained then paused himself as the Templar and Hospitaller looked closer at the sword. “See, beneath the handle, you can see not only the original rose symbol, but it is surmounted by a larger curved and stylised triple Tau symbol. Beneath that you can see the intricate and delicate engraving of what looks like a set of wings but is in fact branches of a sacred oak tree and with two females forming the main trunks. Just as Theodoric had between his shoulders…but as you can see, the one on the sword is far more delicate.”

  Ayleth stood up and came closer to see for herself.

  “How come we could not see this before? I am sure it was not there when I held it,” she exclaimed, puzzled.

  “Now that I see it…it is beautiful. Strange image to have upon a sword…but beautiful nevertheless,” the Templar commented as he studied the barely visible image.

  “I can assure you it was. But your eyes, they can trick and deceive you. It was hidden but in plain sight simply as you were not looking for it…and the brain can trick you by being lazy and filling in the gaps. It can even make you see things that are not there!” the old man explained.

  “Really…how so? Can you prove that?” Peter asked.

  “Yes…yes I can. Gabirol…please if you would, can you go to the rear of that satchel. You will find a brilliant white image of a woman on a black background upon silk sheet pressed onto a board,” the old man asked. Gabirol immediately searched towards the back of the satchel and eventually pulled out the image.

  “It hardly looks like a woman. Looks almost ghostly in fact. And what is with the green, red and blue spots on her nose?” he asked as he placed it upon the table.

  “Simon…would you indulge an old man, please?

  “Erm…in what manner?” he replied sheepishly.

  “I want you to stare at the three dots without blinking for as long as I say and then when I say ‘now’, look directly at this sheet of white,” the old man explained and lifted up a large piece of almost white parchment.

  “Okay…seems simple enough,” Simon remarked as he moved to be able to stare at the image.

  All watched on in silence as Simon stared at the three little coloured dots as the old man counted with his finger going up and down until he had counted thirty seconds.

  “Now!” he said aloud.

  Simon blinked and quickly looked across at the large white parchment. Simon blinked again, puzzled. Shook his head and then pulled himself back, startled. He looked at the old man almost in horror.

  “What magic is this…how is that possible?” Simon asked and blinked his eyes again as he looked at the parchment, rubbed his eyes hard and then sighed. “Wow!”

  “What…what is it?” Sarah asked impatiently.

  “’Twas a beautiful woman. I…I stared at that like he said, then…then when I looked there,” Simon said as he pointed at the parchment. “When I looked there, I clearly saw the coloured real image of a woman!” he explained further and then smiled.

  “Rubbish. Let me try,” the Genoese sailor remarked and pushed past Simon and started to stare at the white image on the black background.

  The old man repeated the same sequence until the Genoese sailor looked at the white parchment. The sailor blinked several times, bewildered and in awe. He looked at the old man speechless.

  “’Tis but a simple trick…that is all,” the old man explained as one by one they all tried it.

  “That is no simple trick, my friend,” Gabirol commented. “That shows an understanding beyond most people’s capabilities. Where did you learn such a trick?”

  “Oh…from a Sufi mystic, who in turn taught Theodoric and consequently Paul. That is Paul’s handiwork,” the old man revealed as both the Templar and Hospitaller shook their heads in utter amazement.

  “I have travelled far and seen many things, some truly strange and unexplainable… but never anything like that. How can that be just a simple trick?” the Templar asked.

  “This whole world we live in is but a trick of perceptions my friends. And simple ones at that…for that is the beauty of it all,” the old man answered and smiled.

  “Does the image on the sword appear coloured and real when you do the same thing?” Ayleth asked.

  “No…not at all. But it gave the blacksmith great joy to do the work. It was a labour of love for him to do it and was proud to do. He refused to let Paul pay for it too…,” the old man explained as he took the sword back from the Templar and looked at the delicate patterning and image. He ran his fingers over the engraving gently and closed his eyes and sighed.

  Kizkalesi Castle, Cilician Armenian coast, 1179

  Paul placed the sword across his knees as he sat down upon the lower section of his caravan’s steps and ran his fingers across the engraving upon the sword’s blade. The blacksmith had spent the whole prior day and night working upon it. Paul was amazed at the delicate engraving and placement of the symbols executed in very fine detail way beyond what he had requested or expected. It was early morning and people were only just beginning to stir. Alisha had only just put Arri back to sleep after yet another fretful night. Music had been played in the courtyard until the late hours of the evening at the request of Guy. Princess Stephanie had politely attended a large meal both Guy and Balian had put on to celebrate some event but Paul paid no attention to it. He had been pleased to see Taqi and Theodoric laugh much as they talked and listened to the music of the travelling players, but he and Alisha used the excuse of still feeling exhausted to try and get an early night and some sleep. Tenno had stood guard ever watchful all night it appeared as he was stood near to their caravan when they had retired to bed and was still there when Paul awoke in the morning. So the fact that the blacksmith had also deliberately missed the meal and music on account of finishing the work upon the sword touched Paul deeply. Paul looked up at the blacksmith just as Alisha quietly stepped down beside him.

  “’Twas an honour to do…once it stopped hurting me! Strange that… And I shall be highly insulted if you dare try to pay me for doing it,” the blacksmith stated.

  Alisha looked at the blacksmith, puzzled for a moment until Paul pointed to the delicate work upon his sword. Alisha knelt down to see clearer what Paul was running his fingers across. She ran her fingers across the engraving following Paul’s finger. Just as she did, a high pitch whine sounded out. As it began to rise in loudness and pitch, it sounded almost like a choir of very loud but distant singing. O
thers also noticed the sound and started looking around, puzzled. Paul stood up and placed his arm around Alisha protectively as they all looked upwards to see where the sound was coming from. Several pilgrims stood up from their sleeping mats. Some shook their heads and tried to clear their ears as they all felt a tickling sensation in them. Dust upon the ground started to vibrate. Several Templars came rushing into the main courtyard as people began to realise something was not quite right.

  “Get Arri now!” Paul said, alarmed, as the sounds of a strange mixture of singing and whining plus what sounded like long blasts of a battle horn sounded out.

  Alisha rushed inside the caravan to fetch Arri as Guy and Balian ran out from the main keep’s doorway looking confused. Princess Stephanie rushed from her caravan just in her nightgown and ran towards Paul just as Theodoric and Sister Lucy ran into view coming from the pilgrims’ sheltered area.

  “What is it…what is happening?” Stephanie asked loudly as the noise intensified.

  “I have no idea,” Paul shouted back as several people covered their ears.

  “’Tis the Devil’s work,” Guy said as he looked up and around himself trying to see where the noise was coming from.

  “’Tis a bloody earthquake coming, you fools…quickly, away from the walls,” Theodoric shouted and beckoned Paul over to the middle of the open courtyard as the horses started to neigh and snort louder, getting agitated.

  Paul turned and grabbed Alisha as she stepped down from the caravan carrying Arri. He started to move with her when the ground started to shake violently causing them to struggle to remain upright. Princess Stephanie rushed over and grabbed hold of Paul’s arm as he placed his other arm around Alisha. Tenno was already pushing them all before Paul could even look around when people started to fall over as the ground shook more violently. A final loud trumpet sound echoed out loudly causing pain in several people’s ears including Paul’s. A woman screamed and pointed in panic as one of the outer walls near the caravans began to collapse. Several large stones arched forwards as they fell downwards, with two of the bigger stones smashing into Princess Stephanie’s caravan destroying it into an explosion of splinters and wooden planking. Tenno immediately shielded Paul and Alisha by wrapping his arms around them and using his back to take the impact of several pieces of wood and splinters. Princess Stephanie was quickly pushed down in front of Paul’s feet to protect her also. A dust cloud was kicked up from the falling masonry that rolled out across the entire inner walled area of the castle.